D’Arcy McNickle Center for American Indian and Indigenous Studies

We strive to connect Native communities with materials related to their cultures and histories at the Newberry. To inquire about a private group viewing of collection items, please email us.

In 2020, the Newberry revised its policy regarding access to culturally sensitive materials. The policy gives tribal nations more options for assigning protocols to specific items in the Newberry collection. Identification of these materials is still underway. We encourage researchers to review our policy closely, and we welcome input from tribal representatives.

The D’Arcy McNickle Distinguished Speaker Series celebrates Indigenous scholars, writers, and artists who consistently demonstrate excellence in their work concerning Indigenous peoples and histories and who actively address contemporary issues faced by American Indian and Indigenous communities. Usually held in November, past lectures have featured Ned Blackhawk, Leslie Marmon Silko, Winona LaDuke, and Nick Estes.

Dr. Samantha Majhor (Dakota and Assiniboine, Fort Peck Descendant) is an Assistant Professor of English at Marquette University whose research focuses on Native American literature. In particular, her research explores the portrayal of nonhuman materials like clothing and the environment to examine long-held Indigenous philosophies about materiality. Dr. Majhor is a former participant in NCAIS programs, and in 2022, she co-taught the NCAIS Summer Institute. She has also been part of several public humanities projects, including "Indigenous Art and Activism Along the Mississippi River in Changing Climates." Her current book project examines Indigenous Materialisms in contemporary fiction and poetry by Native writers, and she is also working to build a comprehensive digital story-map of Dakota homelands along with her colleague, Chris Pexa, through the support of a Mellon grant. She serves as a faculty mentor for MU’s Indigeneity Lab, particularly supervising the Indian Boarding School History project and consulting on the Wild Rice Revitalization project. Dr. Majhor holds a Ph.D in English from the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, an MA in English from the University of St. Thomas, and a BA in English and Sociology from the University of Minnesota-Duluth.

Haku Blaisdell (Kanaka Maoli) is the Associate Director for Outreach and Strategy of the Newberry Library’s D’Arcy McNickle Center for American Indian and Indigenous Studies. In this role, she serves as the liaison between tribal nations and the Newberry. She’s honored and grateful for the opportunity to be a part of the work that reconnects Native communities with their materials that the Newberry currently stewards. She comes to this role with a B.S. in Education from Northwestern University and a background in Native American and Indigenous Studies. She also brings community engagement experience from her time interning at the Field Museum during the creation of the Native Truths exhibition. Ultimately, she credits her upbringing as a proud Kanaka Maoli (Native Hawaiian) for preparing her for this role.

Sarah Jimenez is a tribally enrolled member of the M’Chigeeng First Nation in Ontario, Canada. She has been the Program Coordinator at the McNickle Center since Summer 2019.